Brockton boosts patrols after weekend bloodshed

Monday

Aug 11, 2014 at 6:00 AM

Police Chief Robert Hayden said additional state police troopers are coming into the city to assist Brockton officers with patrols.

Staff Reporter

BROCKTON – As authorities are continuing to investigate Saturday’s murder of a 28-year-old Mattapan man, the police chief said he has boosted patrols to address a spate of weekend shootings. The murder of Quentin Phillips occurred early Saturday morning, when police also responded to three other shootings across the city.

Police Chief Robert Hayden said additional state police troopers are coming into the city to assist Brockton officers with patrols.

The Police Department has also added five extra Brockton officers to nighttime patrols and at least six motorcycles were patrolling the streets Sunday, Hayden said.

“We’re just more visible right now,” Hayden said. “We aware of (the shootings) and we’re responding.”

Hayden said he visited with a family who live in a Linwood Street home where a bullet shattered a living room window early Saturday morning. Outside the home, a woman suffered non life-threatening injuries after she was shot in the leg as a nearby house party was dispersing around 2 a.m., police said.

Police also responded to two other shootings. Investigators found 11 shell casings outside a 7-Eleven on Belmont Street. On Winthrop Street, a bullet went through a second-story bedroom wall, police said. No one was injured in either shooting, police said.

After suffering a gunshot wound to the chest, Phillips was taken to the hospital by friends, authorities said.

The hospital called police at 2:21 a.m. Saturday to report that a man had been shot in the chest. Phillips was pronounced dead a short time later at the hospital.

“We’re still awaiting the autopsy results,” Assistant District Attorney Bridget Norton Middleton said Sunday. “At this point, it’s still under investigation by state police detectives assigned to our office and Brockton police.”

Middleton urged anyone with information about the fatal shooting to call Brockton detectives at 508-941-0234.

A press release issued by Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz’s office Saturday said that at the time of the shooting, Phillips had been seated in a car in the parking lot behind 11 Crescent St., which is the address of Joe Angelo’s Cafe and Deli.

But business owner Joe Angelo said Sunday that the shooting didn’t take place outside of his business.

Angelo noted that two other downtown establishments – Cristal restaurant at 250 Main St. and Tamboo at 252 Main St. – also border the parking lot.

“That shooting took place but not behind my place. To say it happened behind my place is a misstatement,” Angelo said. “I’m very upset about this.”

Angelo said ShotSpotter, the city’s gunshot detection system, didn’t go off outside of his establishment – and no shell casings nor any blood were found near his business.